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Relief flooded through him. “How long would it take to plan?”

“Ha! With my family? We could have everything ready in an hour, tops.”

“How about three weeks from next Tuesday?”

“Why three weeks from…” Her eyes grew wide as she understood. “Our wedding anniversary.”

“Yes.”

“That sounds absolutely perfect.”

Lowering his head, he sealed the promise and their future with a kiss.

Chapter Forty-Five

Vail, Colorado

Sprawled out in his ten-thousand-dollar recliner, Collin Kerr aka Colton Kingsley took a sip of his seventy-five-year-old bourbon and reflected on how he’d gotten here. Careful planning had been the key. Having seen many superstars of WREN crash and burn through the years, he had prepared for any contingency. Admittedly, he had hoped for a few more years, but he was nothing if not pragmatic.

He was also enormously adaptable. Being a wanted man was a different status for him, but again, with careful planning, he would be just fine.

What he was going to do with the rest of his life was the question of the day. He had planned to stay in Hobbs for a month or two, practicing his different identities and perfecting his plan. By the middle of the second week, he’d realized how ridiculous that was. Not only was he bored to tears, he was smart enough to acknowledge that he didn’t need the practice. He was already excellent at disguises, and his acting skills were second to none.

The world was his kingdom, and he was ready to rule it.

At thirty-seven, he was still young enough to do just about anything he wanted. Of course, needing to stay hidden eliminated a few career paths, but since he didn’t need to work, there was a whole world of interests he could pursue.

Staying hidden wouldn’t be a problem. No one could track him—not even WREN. He was just that good.

He also had several homes throughout the world, each owned by a different identity. If he had to leave one and go to another, he’d burn that identity with no one the wiser.

Collin Kerr owned this chalet in Vail. Calvin Kaufman owned a massive condo in Palm Beach, Florida. Clark Keystone was the owner of a sprawling villa just outside Tuscany.

Calvin also owned a small yacht docked close to his place in Florida, but he was thinking of buying a larger one. Collin owned three vintage cars that were worth close to twelve million and change. Clark owned a Cessna 172 Skyhawk but was considering an upgrade. The combined bank accounts of these three men held more than the treasuries of some small countries. So yes, he and all his identities were going to be just fine.

He took another sip of the bourbon and savored the burn as it traveled down his throat. Some people might wonder why he wasn’t bitter. After all, he’d not only lost his position with WREN, but he knew without a doubt that somebody—maybe more than one somebody—had been contracted to eliminate him. In WREN’s eyes, he’d made too many mistakes to recover. WREN wasn’t a forgiving kind of employer. Plus, he knew too much. They would hunt him to the ends of the earth. To no avail, of course.

He’d had a lot of time to think about how things had happened and had decided it had all started with Serena. She was the one who had betrayed him. How she had communicated her location to Option Zero was a mystery. The information couldn’t have come from Sean. No way would he have waited almost two months to come for her.

Despite all that, they had failed to capture him. Idiots thought they’d had him, but he’d shown them. Their helicopter had been destroyed, and hopefully more than a few of their operatives were dead. They deserved death after what they’d done to him.

In retrospect, he regretted being so easy on Serena. If he’d tortured her husband in front of her when she’d first arrived at the compound, she would have had a different attitude. Fear was the most effective motivator. He had always believed that. He had treated her better than anyone else, and how had she shown her gratitude? She had betrayed him. Needless to say, he was deeply disappointed in her.

The outcome wasn’t what he’d wanted, but he would be fine. He knew how to hide, and he had prepared for this contingency long ago.

So what that he wouldn’t have the power he’d planned to possess? He had wealth—that was better than power any day. Power didn’t feed you or clothe you. It didn’t…

He took another sip of bourbon and swallowed it down with his rising bitterness. No, he would not go down that path. He had wealth. He had his health. He had his whole life ahead of him.

Serena and Sean Donavan would rot in their mediocrity, while he would thrive in his brilliance and opulence.

They no longer mattered. They were nothing. He had gotten away. He had won.

Ten days later

Palm Beach, Florida

Sitting beneath a giant canopy to avoid the blazing sun, Calvin Kaufman aka Colton Kingsley sipped Cristal from a crystal flute as he gazed out over the sparkling blue water. Oh yes, this was much better. He’d arrived only a few hours ago and was already feeling like a new man.